Kagome's Duty
by elusivemuse
Summary: Abandoned in the Middle of a battle by InuYasha rushing to Kikyo, Kagome and the gang follow Sesshoumaru to complete their duty. Respect turns to friendship, which in turn follows into Love as Kagome and Sesshoumaru journey towards the final battle.SesKag
1. Chapter 1

**Kagome's Duty**

**I do not own anything remotely to do with InuYasha. This is my first story without an OC in it and I am really eager to see if I can give the characters justice. Writing is like a flower, waiting to bloom!**

**Chapter One: The Meaning of _Pack_**

He stood there, looking at her. The wind whistled through his Mokomoko causing the delicate strands to dance and his hair to flair gently. Dressed in a tattered old priestess garb and her hair tousled like a rat's nest, she looked the picture of desolate as she clung to a tree trunk. The stinging scent of tears tingled at his nostrils as well as the cloying scent of monthly moon flow. She was unaware that he was by her, her holy powers dampened by her sadness. Her own little world encompassed her. Sesshoumaru decided that he didn't like the scent of tears and sadness marring her usual jasmine aroma.

"Miko," he said tonelessly, giving away his presence and slight curiosity. She whirled around suddenly, her blue eyes deep with her sorrow. Turning away from his amber gaze, she stared dispassionately at her hands.

"I'm a fool," she said softly, almost absently. "I've been under the delusion that I was meant to be be with InuYasha, that after all this trouble with Naraku ends, he and I would be together." he stood there impassively, waiting for her to continue. Kagome gave him an irritated look. "How often have you known that he would drop everything to rescue Kikyo, not caring about how the rest of us is fairing?"

Sesshoumaru stood there for a beat or two. "This Sesshoumaru does not follow."

She huffed in frustration. "He goes to her whenever she calls, leaving us to defend ourselves, even in the midst of battle." She saw his impatient glare. "I'm not saying that we can't defend ourselves, cause we can, but he is meant to be here, protecting us, letting us know if a demon is close and aiding is in our fights."

"Miko, you should be capable of handling these things yourself." She gave a cry of frustration, her small fists beating on the ground.

"He appointed himself as such, makes us choose our fighting strategies around him!" she said loudly, his ears twitching at the loud sound. "Then as soon as she beckons, he abandons us in the middle of a fight to go off with her! He could have hurt Shippo. He cares more for a walking dead woman than those in his group."

"Pack."

"Pardon?" she looked at him confused, and somewhat irritated that he interrupted her rant.

"It is not a group for Inu demons, it is pack," he replied in a bored tone.

"Whatever. All he cares about is what I can give him, what I can offer him, not that he truly gives a damn about me as a person." Tears rose once more in her eyes. Yet still he continued to stare at her, his internal debate unseen on his face. Irritated by his blankness, Kagome stood up. "Why am I even bothering? You're the Ice Prince of the West. Why should you care about a _lowly_ Miko?" with barely a perceptive sigh, Sesshoumaru walked over to her and hauled her up by the arms.

"These reasons you have offered me have not given a sufficient reason for you to shed tears, Miko. He is a dishonorable fighter, you should have expected such."

Giving him a glare from under her bangs. "I love him and he runs off all the time with Kikyo, with no thought of anyone else, and still dangles hope that he loves me back in front of my eyes. Then he leaves in the middle of a fight, not caring whether and of his _pack _get hurt in the process. All he thinks about is himself. Anytime one of us try and say something, he gets angry and yells at us." she began to fall limp in his arms as the fight fell out of her. "What am I going to do? How am I going to keep Shippo safe and do my duty if our strongest fighter always runs off in the midst of a fight?" Again, Sesshoumaru looked at her, his normally piercing eyes blank with thought. Abruptly he let her fall to the ground, turning slightly away. She stared at her companion. He had been traveling with them for several days so far, he and the rest of his group and it had irritated InuYasha to no end. Kagome wondered what is true purpose was to being there. Was it because he thought they were the best bet at defeating Naraku? Or was it that he actually believed in her quest and wanted to help? No, Sesshoumaru was a selfish person by nature and never did anything that didn't benefit him in some way. Safely, she was going to go with her first choice. But it didn't stop her from wondering, was it InuYasha that was going to finally kill Naraku with her, or was it going to be Sesshoumaru?

Fed up with her internal debate, Sesshoumaru broke the silence, finally coming to his decision.

"Pack your things, get your pup, the monk and slayer. We have dawdled here too long. You have a Duty to finish."

"The one I love leaves me to go to another and you want me to just leave like it never happened?"

Miko stared wordlessly into his eyes. They showed nothing that she could identify. She couldn't be sure what to do. Should she just go with him and forget her broken heart? Did she stay and wallow in depression? Or did she leave and get over the fact that her heart was now in a million pieces. Or perhaps going with Sesshoumaru would prove to have some kind of reasoning to it.

Nodding her head slightly, she silently told him that she would go with him.

"If InuYasha truly desires to fight and join _my_ pack as an Omega, he may do so." Sesshoumaru turned to leave.

"O-omega?" came her confused voice.

"Someone has to be there to vent my frustrations." With that he turned and walked towards the camp, not needing to say more.

**Please leave a review to tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own InuYasha, although I am making a fluffy plushie! Oh and a little caution: there is some swearing in this chapter, for those who are offended by such language, I apologize and request that you use your imagination to change the words. I don't usually like using swear words in my writing as I think that, apart from certain character's dialogue, it shouldn't be part of a story. And most of the time I usually go for the literal meaning of the words, rather than the idiom (slang) versions. If this little rant has ruffled a few feathers, I'm sorry, but you'll be waiting a long time for an apology. I have my beliefs and my style of writing and apart from constructive criticism that is relevant, I won't be changing it for anyone. Thank you for reading, you didn't have to and I don't want to force my beliefs on anyone, I'm just stating where I am. Hope you all enjoy this chapter! And a huge thanks to my Beta Reader Whitehair-Dogears for helping me out! And thanks to my mate soccer-bitch for helping me out!

**Chapter Two: A Cold Reception**

She cuddled Shippo to her chest, stroking gently the bandage on his cheek. Thanks to InuYasha leaving in the middle of the fight against the panther demon, the little fox demon had been thrown into a corpse of prickly trees. They were so cruel to the little boy, taunting him while holding Kagome just out of his reach. Thankfully Sesshoumaru had arrived in time from his palace. Placing his ward and servant in a safe distance, he used his poison whip to dispatch them, unwilling to unleash his Tokijin for such low level beings. He had been part of their group, _pack_, for a few weeks, continuously snipping at his younger brother's supposed authority. Funnily enough, it was Kagome's quiet requests that he listened to without argument, ignoring his brother's snide comments about him bowing down for some bitch. A few _sit_s later, and InuYasha complained to himself in a tree, unwilling to take on Kagome's intense dislike of the derogatory term.

"Kagome?" Sango asked quietly, not wanting to intrude on her friend's thoughts. The futuristic girl looked at her friend expectantly. "I am sorry about InuYasha, but do you think its wise that we just leave him here and go on without him?"

Kagome thought about what her friend asked. She knew that it wasn't what she would usually do. In fact it wasn't something that she would do period. It chafed at her moral code and all of her ethics. A person just doesn't leave a long time companion without any warning or a discussion. Kagome's eyes lowered down to the fox demon in her arms. "It may not be the right thing, but it is something that I need to do. We have to stop relying on InuYasha, he's disappointed us one too many times. I think that Sesshoumaru is someone that we can depend on, at least for the battle against Naraku. He hates the guy almost as much as us, not to mention understands the reason behind collecting the jewel shards."

"He also doesn't have any ulterior motives for the jewel either," Sango supplied, trying to make her friend feel a little better about abandoning the half demon. Kagome cuddled Shippo closer to her, her wide eyes taking in the regal form of the Dog Lord.

"I- InuYasha needs to know that he can't keep doing this to us," the young girl said, her voice unsure. "I'm tired of being picked on. I'm tired of being called names. I'm tired of being the one that cooks, cleans and mothers him when all I get in return is nothing but disrespect, name calling and him not letting me complete the rest of my responsibilities. I have to go home, I have to finish school. I have my own family to think about as well. He thinks that I should just simply ignore and drop them just for him and his need to become a full demon and be with Kikyo. I admit I have a duty to fix the jewel, but my duty to my education and my family needs to come first sometimes." she sighed, knowing that Sango didn't need to hear her rant and frustrations. "I know that InuYasha has done wrong and I know what I am doing is wrong too," she gave her sister friend a sad look. "I also know that two wrongs don't make a right, but I need to do something for me for a change. I can't keep bowing down to what he wants all the time."

Sango nodded as she packed things into Kagome's yellow bag. The camp had almost been completely dismantled, the only things remaining was InuYasha's sleeping bag and the fire pit. The demon slayer slipped the bag on Kirara. There was too much stress floating around them. Miroku had been sent to the stream close by to finish cleaning the pots while the others packed up. She wished he was there to talk some sense into Kagome. The half demon wouldn't take long to find them, she knew, and didn't want to be there when the following arguments exploded.

**

InuYasha stood at the spring with his past love. His eyes were eager to hear her answer. "Well, Kikyo? What's your answer? You have to admit, its a good plan. With you in our group we'd be able to hunt shards quicker, not be forced to chose the easiest option and let Naraku take the shard away from us."

She stood there blankly for a moment before answering. "Your suggestion has merit, I agree. However, your companions would not be so willing because of my actions in the past." He frowned, not pleased with her not giving him an answer. "Are they not concerned that you are not with them now?" Her eyes were cold, not giving away anything in her mind.

"They'll get over it, they always do."

"And my reincarnation?" he winced at her icy tone. He knew that they never got on, considering that Kikyo tried to kill Kagome for her soul. But Kagome did save Kikyo after that as well. He had hoped that they would get along somewhat for the greater good.

"Same with Kagome, she's kind and forgives easy." He paused for a moment. "Can you give me an answer now?"

"As we are both enemies with Naraku and your plan has merrit," he gave her a hopeful look. "I will join you for a time, however I have my own conditions."

"Go ahead." he replied eager to get started.

"My need to collect souls is a sensitive issue and I do not like to hear backbiting about it. They must accept this. Also there are times where I may leave your group for sometime without reason, I must not be questioned about this. Those are my terms." Inuyasha's ears lowered breifly.

"Done. Hop on my back and I'll take you to camp."

"My soul collectors are more than capable to the task," she replied.

**

Thanks for reading and please drop a review! I like to hear what you think!.


End file.
